Candide (character) - definition of Candide (character) by The Free Dictionary Candide (character) - definition of Candide (character) by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Vol·taire (vōl-târ′, vŏl-, vôl-tĕr′) Pen name of François Marie Arouet. 1694-1778. French philosopher and writer whose works often attack injustice and intolerance. He wrote the satirical novel Candide (1759) and the Philosophical Dictionary (1764). Voltaire (vɒlˈtɛə; vəʊl-; French vɔltɛr) n (Biography) pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759). He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies.

He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views Volˈtairean, Volˈtairian adj, n SparkNotes: Candide: Context SparkNotes Table of Contents Plot Overview François-Marie Arouet, later known as Voltaire, was born in 1694 to a middle-class family in Paris. At that time, Louis XIV was king of France, and the vast majority of people in France lived in crushing poverty. When François-Marie came of age, the French aristocracy ruled with an iron fist. At the same time, however, the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment was spreading ideas about the equality and basic rights of man and the importance of reason and scientific objectivity. François-Marie received a Jesuit education at the college of Louis-le-Grand. Even as a child, his witty intelligence struck and sometimes outraged his teachers, setting the stage for his controversial writing career. François-Marie briefly worked as a secretary for the French Ambassador to Holland, but abandoned the position to devote himself to writing. As a writer, François-Marie soon became legendary throughout France for his sharp epigrams. His quick wit brought him fame, and with fame came a good deal of trouble.

As a result of expressing his bitter, satirical wit at the expense of the French Regent, he was exiled from Paris to Sully, but through flattery he soon managed to have his exile rescinded. Shortly after returning to Paris, however, François was imprisoned in the Bastille for satirizing the government. While in prison, François assumed the pen name “Voltaire.” Not long after his release in 1718, Voltaire’s first play, Oedipe, was produced in Paris. At this point Voltaire was only twenty-four years old. Voltaire moved in the circles of the rich and powerful. With his pen he alternately flattered and lambasted those around him, and this talent for biting satire earned him another stint in the Bastille in 1726. He was soon released on the condition that he move to England. Voltaire’s exile in England was far from unpleasant, however, as a crowd of English literati received him with open arms. Within a matter of months, Voltaire became fluent in English, and English philosophy and society continued to fascinate him throughout his life. After three years he was allowed to return to France.

Voltaire’s words attacked the church and the state with equal fervor, and earned him widespread repute. During his lifetime, trenchant writings attacking church or government were often attributed to him whether he had written them or not. A lifelong champion of the poor and downtrodden, he wrote against tyranny and religious persecution with unmatched audacity. Despite his relentless criticism of powerful individuals and institutions, Voltaire became good friends with King Frederick of Prussia. They often quarreled, as Voltaire inevitably quarreled with anyone in power, but the ties of their friendship were lasting. In the 1750s, Voltaire grew increasingly appalled by the specters of injustice and inexplicable disaster that he saw around him. Many terrible events influenced his composition of Candide: a disastrous earthquake in Lisbon in 1755, about which he wrote a poem; the outbreak of the horrific Seven Years’ War in the German states in 1756; and the unjust execution of the English Admiral John Byng in 1757, against which Voltaire spoke out.

In 1759, Voltaire purchased Ferney, an estate near the border between France and Switzerland, so that he might easily flee across the border to escape French authorities. Ferney quickly became a retreat for important European intellectuals. Published in 1759, Candide is considered Voltaire’s signature work, and it is here that he levels his sharpest criticism against nobility, philosophy, the church, and cruelty. Though often considered a representative text of the Enlightenment, the novel actually savagely satires a number of Enlightenment philosophies and demonstrates that the Enlightenment was a far from monolithic movement. In his later life Voltaire was involved in a wide variety of campaigns for social and political justice. When he returned to Paris at the age of eighty-three the populace hailed him with a hero’s welcome. The strain of the trip was more than his failing health could support, however, and he died in May of 1778. Voltaire was buried in consecrated ground at Romilly-on-Seine, but in 1791 the National Assembly ordered his body entombed alongside René Descartes and other great French thinkers at the Panthéon in Paris.

In 1814, religious fundamentalists stole the remains of Voltaire, as well as those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and dumped them in a pit full of quicklime, a “burial” reserved for individuals condemned and hated by the church. Voltaire would have appreciated the irony of this act, as he and Rousseau were bitter rivals during their lifetimes. Candide and the Enlightenment “The Enlightenment” is the name for a movement that encompasses a wide variety of ideas and advances in the fields of philosophy, science, and medicine that began in the seventeenth century and peaked in the eighteenth century. Many historians mark the French Revolution as the crowning event of the Enlightenment era. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is a profound faith in the power of reason and rational thought to lead human beings to a better social structure. The political ideology of Enlightenment philosophers is characterized by a spirit of social reform. The champions of the Enlightenment called for rebellion against superstition, fear, and prejudice. They attacked the aristocracy and the church. Candide reflects Voltaire’s lifelong aversion to Christian regimes of power and the arrogance of nobility, but it also criticizes certain aspects of the philosophical movement of the Enlightenment.

It attacks the school of optimism that contends that rational thought can curtail the evils perpetrated by human beings. Voltaire strongly opposed certain Enlightenment ideas about social class. Some Enlightenment thinkers promoted the idea of the enlightened monarch as an alternative to a radical reformation of society. Instead of denying the divine right of kings, the concept of the enlightened monarch relied on the idea that rulers could use their power to ensure the protection of their subjects’ rights. The reach of the monarch’s power could be extended so that he or she could ensure this protection. Thus, the name of the Enlightenment could be used to legitimize despotism. Moreover, witch-hunts and organized campaigns of religious persecution continued well into the eighteenth century, and Enlightenment philosophy’s propagation of reason as a social antidote did not bring a halt to the ravages of superstition and fear. Candide illustrates this fact in the figure of the Grand Inquisitor who orders an auto-da-fé to ward off earthquakes, among many other examples. Voltaire’s work may be difficult for the present-day student to understand because it alludes to some very specific concerns of his contemporaries.

To better understand his wit as well as his relevant context, readers may benefit from consulting supplementary readings such as a history of the Enlightenment, a biography of Voltaire, or the writings of other Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau and Leibniz. More Help Voltaire dictionary definition | Voltaire defined » more... The fortunes of Merope have furnished the subject of tragedies by Euripides (Cresphontes, not extant), Voltaire, Maffei and Matthew Arnold. She was to a considerable extent selftaught; and her love of reading made her acquainted first with Plutarch - a passion for which author she continued to cherish throughout her life - thereafter with Bossuet, Massillon, and authors of a like stamp, and finally with Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau. Already antiquated, it could not resist the wit and raillery with which Voltaire, in his Lettres sur les Anglais (1728), brought against it the principles and results of Locke and Newton. Her Lettres were edited by Voltaire (1787), by J.

In 1607, but the château in which the duke of Arenberg of the 18th century entertained Voltaire no longer exists. Related Voltair - definition of Voltair by The Free Dictionary Voltair - definition of Voltair by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Related to Voltair: Rousseau Vol·taire (vōl-târ′, vŏl-, vôl-tĕr′) Pen name of François Marie Arouet. 1694-1778. French philosopher and writer whose works often attack injustice and intolerance. He wrote the satirical novel Candide (1759) and the Philosophical Dictionary (1764). Voltaire (vɒlˈtɛə; vəʊl-; French vɔltɛr) n (Biography) pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759).

He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies. He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views Volˈtairean, Volˈtairian adj, n Parodies in Voltaire’s “Candide” | Sample Essays | GradeSaver Before Voltaire's Candide: Historically- and Socially-Founded Characters Voltaire, as an eighteenth century French philosopher and writer, lived in a far different society than the average American college student is accustomed to today. Though Voltaire was a champion of civil liberties, he spent most of his life in a France plagued with heavy censorship. While some of his works were applauded at the time, many others caused public outrage, even landing him in prison several times. Although the philosophical issues approached in Candide were timely and appropriate in eighteenth century France, the genius of Voltaire lies in the timelessness of his characters and the conclusions they force one to draw. Voltaire's novel Candide is a parody in several senses of the word. First, it acts to parody the genre of the novel as a whole. Still a relatively new literary form at the time, the novel was subject to occasional criticism by romantic traditionalists.

While Voltaire himself was fairly progressive, he spared no opportunity to poke fun of any available convention. In any case, the idea of genre parody was not created or even popularized solely by Voltaire. As Nelly Severin notes, "parody of literary genres was so frequently practiced by French writers throughout the eighteenth century that it can on statistical authority alone be said to have constituted a literary genre itself" (842). Voltaire specifically targeted hagiographic materials, the records and studies of saints. Naming the main character Candide was by no means an accident. As explained in the introduction, the name is based upon the Latin word candidus, meaning white, and leading eventually to our modern candidate. One could then easily draw the symbolic conclusion of Candide being clean, pure, and innocent. Beyond that, however, is an additional hagiographic allusion. Voltaire was familiar with not one, but two distinct saints who took the name Candide. Little is known about the first, a Roman martyr. The second, a soldier, had been attacked previously by Voltaire due to the "historical improbability" (Severin 843) of the myth surrounding his canonization.

Another character based off a saint is CunÃ©gonde. The historic CunÃ©gonde, similar to Voltaire's character, had ties to Westphalia through marriage. While Saint CunÃ©gonde led a life of chastity, reportedly remaining a virgin even after marriage (Severin 844), her representation in Candide is far less pure. The novel's incarnation of CunÃ©gonde is anything but chaste, serving as an additional parody of religious history. It's likely this intentional twist served to showcase Voltaire's disapproval of society's encouragement of virginity as a virtue. Furthermore, the entirety of Candide's first few chapters could be seen as religious parody. "The innocent beginning of Candide can also be seen as a caricature of the typical saint's life" (Severin 844). In this way, one could view all of Candide as a satire of traditional religion, a representation in hyperbole. It's possible to mistake this religious parody for that of romance; indeed, commonalities such as shipwrecks and pirates do exist (Severin 844).

However, all of these archetypes apply even more aptly to the world of hagiography, and serve as an even more powerful rebellion, especially coming out of eighteenth-century France. Candide was written in 1759, after Voltaire had been exiled to England and returned again to France. Originally taking up residence in Paris, he was forced to relocate to the rural outskirts of the country after publishing his highly critical letters on the topic of the French governmental system. This lifestyle probably had a direct impact on the shaping of Candide, the main character of this satirical piece. Much like Voltaire, Candide finds himself constantly relocated, generally not by choice. It should be noted that while Candide explores the philosophy of optimism, and the subtitle of the novel is in fact "or Optimism," the word optimism can only first be found in print some 22 years earlier. In the grand scheme of philosophy, the analysis of optimism was still a very new thought at the time Voltaire wrote Candide. Perhaps that explains the incessant (yet delicate) mocking of Pangloss, the eternally optimistic pseudo-philosopher. Voltaire felt optimism, as it was understood at the time, was simply irrational.

The school of thought required the position that life as it currently exists is as good as it gets, and any seemingly negative situation is facilitated by God and will eventually lead to some greater good. While Voltaire's criticism of optimism may seem fairly obvious, he subtly attacks several other conjectures at the same time: "that we can totally transcend our selfishness or provincialism; that a final accounting of the balance of good and evil in the world is achievable; that human philosophies bear some sort of direct relevance to human behavior" (Wood 192). All of these theories require optimism for validation, and yet, in Candide, the only shows of optimism are ridiculous and obviously satirical representations. Another social quandary often grappled with in the eighteenth century that found its way in to Candide is the idea of a utopian society. Of course this representation can be found in Eldorado. A paradox is discovered when, after several months of living in this relative paradise, Candide and Cacambo decide they are not happy and will leave. But if Eldorado is a utopia, the happiest of all places that provides for its denizens all they need, how could anybody be unhappy?

Voltaire seems to suggest that what Candide experienced there was not true happiness, because a happy life is a life full of risks and adventure (Wood 198). In an extension of the question of contentment, Voltaire convinces the reader throughout Candide not to trust his basic descriptions of characters such as "good," "worthy," and "faithful." While the story began with a number of these perfect images, the characters described in such glowing terms continually manage to disappoint. One disaster after another seems to befall poor Candide while his friends come up morally short. After he and Cacambo resolve to leave Eldorado, the reader is already well aware of Voltaire's deceptive character descriptions. So when Candide asks Cacambo to take half his wealth and search for CunÃ©gonde, and Voltaire's narration expresses surefire faith in his abilities, it is to be expected that Cacambo will find a way to fail. Naturally the only way he could act in a manner surprising to the reader would be to follow through on his promise to find CunÃ©gonde and bring her to Candide, and sure enough, that's exactly what he does (Wood 198).

Voltaire manages to influence the reader's beliefs several times over the course of Candide. In the beginning, through Candide's innocent good faith, we are likely to give optimism a chance. Of course the idea of optimism is continually whittled away throughout the story, until eventually the reader has no choice but to abandon it and expect the worst from seemingly good-natured characters. It is at that moment when Cacambo comes through, living up to all optimistic expectations. If the reader expresses disbelief at this turnaround and accomplishment, then Voltaire has succeeded. The one time that an optimistic philosophy is fulfilled, it is unbelievable. Voltaire has managed to destroy any stock the reader had put in to optimism. While Voltaire's characters seem to make sense on their own, they take on a far deeper meaning when the history and reasoning behind them is understood. These characters are the method by which Voltaire attempts to present philosophical matters in an entertaining fashion, and end up being quite effective, especially if fully understood. Works Cited Severin, Nelly H. "Hagiographic Parody in Candide." French Review 50 (1977): 842-849. Michael Wood.

"Notes on Candide." New England Review 26 (2005): 192-204. After Parodies in Voltaire's "Candide" Dear Client, This essay revolves around the theme that the work is a parody in different ways. That seems to be the thesis, rather than the idea in the title that the characters are somehow laden historically and socially. Make sure that the introduction reflects the true thesis of the essay. Can the different kinds of parodies be reconciled? That is, do Christianity and hagiography seem to have the same characteristics of optimism that Voltaire is against, and is there something about the happy-ending novel form that has the same characteristics? The saint/character is named, I believe, Cunegonde. Please check the spelling. Was Candide one of the works that got him in trouble, or were his parodies so well crafted that he escaped censure for them? Cite the introduction to the novel, since it is mentioned in the essay. Further comments are given below. Please make sure you understand and agree with all revisions that you accept. My suggested revision (under 1,000 words) follows below and in a separate attachment.

Sincerely, Voltaire's Candide: Historically- and Socially-Founded Characters - is the argument simply about these aspects of the characters? Voltaire, as an eighteenth century French philosopher and writer, lived in a far different society than the average American college student is accustomed to today. Though Voltaire was a champion of civil liberties, he spent most of his life in a France plagued with heavy censorship. - ok, but check out for an opposing view While some of his works were applauded at the time, many others caused public outrage, even landing him in prison several times. Although the philosophical issues approached in Candide were timely and appropriate in eighteenth century France, the genius of Voltaire lies in the timelessness of his characters and the conclusions they force one to draw. - ok, but give a more clear sense of the conclusions and characteristics that you mean Voltaire's novel Candide is a parody in several senses of the word. First, it acts to parody the genre of the novel as a whole. Still a relatively new literary form at the time, the novel was subject to occasional criticism by romantic traditionalists.

[moreover,] While [or because] Voltaire himself was fairly progressive, he spared no opportunity to poke fun of any available convention. In any case, the idea of genre parody was not created or even popularized solely by Voltaire. As Nelly Severin notes, parody of literary genres was so frequently practiced by French writers throughout the eighteenth century that it can on statistical authority alone be said to have constituted a literary genre itself (842). Voltaire specifically targeted hagiographic materials, the records and studies of saints. - fine Naming the main character Candide was by no means an accident. As explained in the introduction, the name is based upon the Latin word candidus, meaning white, and leading eventually to our modern candidate. (but not because of race) One could then easily draw the symbolic conclusion of Candide being clean, pure, and innocent. Beyond that, however, is an additional hagiographic allusion. Voltaire was familiar with not one, but two distinct saints who took the name Candide. Little is known about the first, a Roman martyr.

The second, a soldier, had been attacked previously by Voltaire due to the historical improbability (Severin 843) of the myth surrounding his canonization. Another character based off a saint is Cun[e]gonde. The historic Cunegonde, similar to Voltaire's character, had ties to Westphalia through marriage. While Saint Cungonde led a life of chastity, reportedly remaining a virgin even after marriage (Severin 844), her representation in Candide is far less pure. The novels incarnation of Cunegonde is anything but chaste, serving as an additional parody of religious history. It's likely this intentional twist served to showcase Voltaire's disapproval of society's encouragement of virginity as a virtue. -ok, but this is also about religious parody and not just social parody, so this information blends with the next paragraph. Make sure the historical details are relevant. Furthermore, the entirety of Candide's first few chapters could be seen as religious parody. The innocent beginning of Candide can also be seen as a caricature of the typical saint's life (Severin 844).

In this way, one could view all of Candide as a satire of traditional religion, a representation in hyperbole. It is possible to mistake this religious parody for that of romance; indeed, commonalities such as shipwrecks and pirates do exist (Severin 844). However, all of these archetypes apply even more aptly to the world of hagiography, and serve as an even more powerful rebellion, especially coming out of eighteenth-century France. -ok--see above note Candide was written in 1759, after Voltaire had been exiled to England and [had] returned again to France. Originally taking up residence in Paris, he was forced to relocate to the rural outskirts of the country after publishing his highly critical letters on the topic of the French governmental system. This lifestyle probably had a direct impact on the shaping of Candide, the main character of this satirical piece. Much like Voltaire, Candide finds himself constantly relocated, generally not by choice. - this is a new topic--on the relationship between the author and the protagonist. Use a stronger transition.

It should be noted that while Candide explores the philosophy of optimism, and the subtitle of the novel is in fact "or Optimism," the word optimism can only first be found in print some 22 years earlier [in French?]. In the grand scheme of philosophy, the analysis of optimism was still a very new thought at the time Voltaire wrote Candide. Perhaps that explains the incessant (yet delicate) mocking of Pangloss, the eternally optimistic pseudo-philosopher. Voltaire felt optimism, as it was understood at the time, was simply irrational. The school of thought required the position that life as it currently exists is as good as it gets, and any seemingly negative situation is facilitated by God and will eventually lead to some greater good. -ok, so this is also a philosophical parody While Voltaire's criticism of optimism may seem fairly obvious, he subtly attacks several other conjectures at the same time: that we can totally transcend our selfishness or provincialism; that a final accounting of the balance of good and evil in the world is achievable; [and] that human philosophies bear some sort of direct relevance to human behavior (Wood 192). All of these theories require optimism for validation (are you sure?

this point seems arguable), and yet, in Candide, the only shows of optimism are ridiculous and obviously satirical representations. - this material goes with the previous paragraph. Another social quandary often grappled with in the eighteenth century that found its way in to Candide is the idea of a utopian society. Of course this representation can be found in Eldorado. A paradox is discovered when, after several months of living in this relative paradise, Candide and Cacambo decide they are not happy and will leave. But if Eldorado is a utopia, the happiest of all places that provides for its denizens all they need, how could anybody be unhappy? Voltaire seems to suggest that what Candide experienced there was not true happiness, because a happy life is a life full of risks and adventure (Wood 198). - true; this point supports optimism, though, in the suggestion that the world of struggle really is the best world for human happiness In an extension of the question of contentment, Voltaire convinces the reader throughout Candide not to trust his basic descriptions of characters such as good, worthy, and faithful.

While the story began with a number of these perfect images, the characters described in such glowing terms continually manage to disappoint. - this seems to be part of the parody of the novel? One disaster after another seems to befall poor Candide while his friends come up morally short. After he and Cacambo resolve to leave Eldorado, the reader is already well aware of Voltaire's deceptive character descriptions. So when Candide asks Cacambo to take half his wealth and search for Cunegonde, and Voltaire's narration expresses surefire faith in his abilities, it is to be expected that Cacambo will find a way to fail. Naturally the only way he could act in a manner surprising to the reader would be to follow through on his promise to find Cunegonde and bring her to Candide, and sure enough, that is exactly what he does (Wood 198). - what is the point, though, of the surprise? We do not know until the next paragraph. Voltaire manages to influence the reader's beliefs several times over the course of Candide. In the beginning, through Candide's innocent good faith, we are likely to give optimism a chance.

Of course the idea of optimism is continually whittled away throughout the story, until eventually the reader has no choice but to abandon it and expect the worst from seemingly good-natured characters. It is at that moment when Cacambo comes through, living up to all optimistic expectations. If the reader expresses disbelief at this turnaround and accomplishment, then Voltaire has succeeded. The one time that an optimistic philosophy is fulfilled, it is unbelievable. Voltaire has managed to destroy any stock the reader had put in optimism. - good! Or is this also Wood's point? While Voltaire's characters seem to make sense on their own, they take on a far deeper meaning when the history and reasoning behind them is understood. These characters are the method by which Voltaire attempts to present philosophical matters in an entertaining fashion, and end up being quite effective, especially if fully understood. - ok; again return to the points about parody in Voltaire's achievement of this purpose. Of course it is more than entertainment and understanding but also a social and religious commentary. Works Cited Severin, Nelly H. "Hagiographic Parody in Candide." French Review 50 (1977): 842-849. Michael Wood.

Notes on Candide. New England Review 26 (2005): 192-204. --- my revision --- Parodies in Voltaire's Candide Voltaire, an eighteenth-century French philosopher and writer who was a champion of civil liberties, lived in a country plagued with heavy censorship. While some of his works were applauded at the time, many others caused public outrage, and his writings even led him to prison and exile. After publishing letters highly critical of the French governmental system, he was forced to relocate once again, moving to the rural outskirts of the country. This frequent moving probably had a direct impact on Candide (1759), whose title character travels the world, generally not by choice. Because Voltaire was fairly progressive, he spared no opportunity to poke fun of convention. Readers of the novel had many reasons to bristle, since the novel is a parody in several senses of the word. Candide parodies the genre of the novel, the hagiographic tradition, social norms, and the philosophy of optimism. While these topics were timely for Voltaire, the genius of the work lies in its timelessness, since these parodies continue to provide humor today.

The idea of genre parody was not initiated or even popularized solely by Voltaire. As Nelly Severin notes, parodies of literary genres were so frequently published by French writers throughout the eighteenth century that, on statistical authority alone, parody can be said to have constituted its own literary genre (842). Still a relatively new literary form in Voltaire's time, the novel had already been subject to occasional criticism by romantic traditionalists. Voltaire's parody makes use of romantic elements such as shipwrecks and pirates (Severin 844). This parody is memorable for simultaneously targeting other aspects of French culture and religion such as hagiographic materials, the records and studies of saints. Voltaire's rebellious novel shook the religious sensibilities of many believers in eighteenth-century France For example, the protagonist Candide is named for two saints with the same name, an obscure Roman martyr and a soldier whom Voltaire had attacked previously due to the historical improbability of the myth surrounding his canonization (Severin 843). Moreover, as the introduction explains, the name draws on the Latin word candidus, meaning white. The character Candide thus represents being clean, spiritually pure, and innocent.

The innocent beginning of Candide is in part a caricature of the typical saint's life (Severin 844). Cunegonde, Candide's great love, also is named after a saint. The historic Cunegonde, similar to Voltaire's character, had ties to Westphalia through marriage. But while Saint Cungonde led a life of chastity, reportedly remaining a virgin even after marriage (Severin 844), her representation in Candide is far less pure, being anything but chaste. Voltaire serves up his parodies of the saints at the same time that he shows disapproval of society's encouragement of virginity as a virtue. In addition to religion, Candide parodies the philosophy of optimism. The subtitle of the novel is "or Optimism." Optimism, which required the position that the world is as good as it could be, defined any seemingly negative situation as something chosen by God that would eventually lead to some greater good. Voltaire thought this position was irrational. It was a new, fashionable option when Voltaire wrote Candide, which incessantly yet delicately mocks Pangloss, the eternally optimistic pseudo-philosopher.

In Candide, the only shows of optimism are ridiculous and obviously satirical. While Voltaire's criticism of optimism overall may seem fairly obvious to readers, he also subtly attacks several other conjectures that depend on optimism for validation. These include the ideas that we can totally transcend our selfishness or provincialism, that a final accounting of the balance of good and evil in the world is achievable, and that human philosophies bear some sort of direct relevance to human behavior (Wood 192). A similar idea with adherents in the eighteenth century, the utopian society, is parodied in Candide's Eldorado. A paradox emerges there when, after several months of living in this relative paradise, Candide and Cacambo decide they are unhappy. But if Eldorado is a utopia, the happiest of all places where all needs are met, how could anyone be unhappy? The suggestion in Candide is that a happy life is full of risks and adventure rather than complacency (Wood 198). Extending his parody of good character and the means of happiness, Voltaire teaches readers not to trust idealistic descriptions of characters as good, worthy, or faithful.

While the story begins with a number of such perfect images of characters, they continually disappoint. One disaster after another befalls poor Candide, while his friends come up morally short. By the time he and Cacambo resolve to leave Eldorado, readers are well aware of the negative aspects of these characters. Thus, when Candide asks Cacambo to search for Cunegonde, readers can expect that Cacambo will fail again, despite the expression of surefire faith in his abilities. The real surprise would be Cacambo's success in bringing Cunegonde to Candide, and that is exactly what he does (Wood 198). This calculated surprise further undermines optimism. In the beginning, through Candide's innocent good faith, optimism seemed to have a chance. After its prospects are continually whittled away, the reader is encouraged to abandon it and expect the worst from the good-natured characters. When Cacambo finally comes through and lives up to optimistic expectations, the success rings false. If one disbelieves this turnaround and accomplishment, then Voltaire has succeeded. The one time that an optimistic philosophy is fulfilled, it is unbelievable. This event finally destroys any stock the reader might have put in optimism.

Such parodies powerfully move readers to revisit their ideas about character and many aspects of French culture. Voltaire uses the odd travels of his characters to present philosophical and religious matters in an entertaining fashion. Since optimism, utopianism, and overblown characterizations of people as good remain common today, readers today can understand the genius of Voltaire not just in historic terms but also in today's. Works Cited Severin, Nelly H. "Hagiographic Parody in Candide." French Review 50 (1977): 842-849. Wood, Michael. "Notes on Candide." New England Review 26 (2005): 192-204.

SparkNotes: Candide: Key Facts Key Facts full title · Candide, or Optimism author · Voltaire (pen name of François-Marie Arouet) type of work · Novel time and place written · Schwetzingen, Prussia; and Geneva, Switzerland; 1758–1759 date of first publication · January or February, 1759 publisher · Gabriel Cramer narrator · Anonymous satirical narrator point of view · The narrator speaks in the third person, focusing on the perspective and experiences of Candide. Events and characters are described objectively most of the time. Occasionally, they are described as Candide sees them, but this is always done with an ironic tone. tone · Ironic; melodramatic setting (place) · Various real and fictional locations in Europe and South America protagonist · Candide major conflict · Candide and Pangloss’s optimistic world view is challenged by numerous disasters; Candide’s love for Cunégonde is repeatedly thwarted. rising action · Candide is expelled from his home for kissing Cunégonde; he wanders the world attempting to preserve his life and reunite with his beloved.

climax · Candide finds Cunégonde enslaved in Turkey; the two are married. falling action · Candide, Cunégonde, Pangloss, and their friends struggle with boredom; they find solace in gardening. themes · The folly of optimism; the uselessness of philosophical speculation; the hypocrisy of religion; the corrupting power of money motifs · Resurrection; rape; political oppression symbols · Pangloss; the garden; the Lisbon earthquake foreshadowing · There is virtually no foreshadowing in this wildly chaotic narrative. Candide’s repeated musings about what Pangloss would think of events foreshadows Pangloss’s “resurrection.” More Help Candide By Voltaire Add to Cart About the author: François-Marie Arouet: 21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778, known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day. Candide By Voltaire Translated by William F Fleming Candide By Voltaire - A French Satire - COMPLETE EDITION - CLASSIC LITERATURE - Candide, ou l'Optimisme, is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: or, Optimism (1947).

It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterised by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel with a story similar to that of a more serious bildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. Publication Date:

Question: Which philosopher wrote the satirical 1759 novel "Candide"?
Answer: Voltaire